We added words, one by oneonto the blackboardat the front of the classroomlittle arms raised in the airsometimes too excited to waitwords blurted out, urgent important words

They were nouns, verbs, and adjectiveswords of a walk in the woodsAll are worthy, all validat least for him, for herString together, communallyamid laughter, easy, funtogether writing a poembefore they wrote their ownwith their own wordsnouns, verbs, adjectivesand adverbs, daringly

September 5, 2008written at the Agape Café coffeehouseWesley United Methodist Church(one of 24 written there that night)writing poetry with third grade classesBarrington Elementary SchoolSpring 2001